Working from home and corporate real estate

We examine how corporate real estate market participants adjust to the take-off of teleworking. We develop an indicator of the exposure of counties to teleworking in France by combining teleworking capacity with incentives and frictions to its deployment. We study how this indicator relates to prices and quantities in the corporate real estate market. We find that for offices in counties more exposed, the Covid-19 crisis has led to (1) higher vacancy rates, (2) less construction, (3) lower prices. Our findings reveal that teleworking has already an impact on the office market. Furthermore, forward-looking indicators suggest that market participants are anticipating the shift to teleworking to be durable

A native promoter and inclusion of an intron is necessary for efficient expression of GFP or mRFP in Armillaria mellea

Armillaria mellea is a significant pathogen that causes Armillaria root disease on numerous hosts in forests, gardens and agricultural environments worldwide. Using a yeast-adapted pCAMBIA0380 Agrobacterium vector, we have constructed a series of vectors for transformation of A. mellea, assembled using yeast-based recombination methods. These have been designed to allow easy exchange of promoters and inclusion of introns. The vectors were first tested by transformation into basidiomycete Clitopilus passeckerianus to ascertain vector functionality then used to transform A. mellea. We show that heterologous promoters from the basidiomycetes Agaricus bisporus and Phanerochaete chrysosporium that were used successfully to control the hygromycin resistance cassette were not able to support expression of mRFP or GFP in A. mellea. The endogenous A. mellea gpd promoter delivered efficient expression, and we show that inclusion of an intron was also required for transgene expression. GFP and mRFP expression was stable in mycelia and fluorescence was visible in transgenic fruiting bodies and GFP was detectable in planta. Use of these vectors has been successful in giving expression of the fluorescent proteins GFP and mRFP in A. mellea, providing an additional molecular tool for this pathogen

Evolutionary trait‐based approaches for predicting future global impacts of plant pathogens in the genus Phytophthora

Plant pathogens are introduced to new geographical regions ever more frequently as global connectivity increases. Predicting the threat they pose to plant health can be difficult without in‐depth knowledge of behaviour, distribution and spread. Here, we evaluate the potential for using biological traits and phylogeny to predict global threats from emerging pathogens. We use a species‐level trait database and phylogeny for 179 Phytophthora species: oomycete pathogens impacting natural, agricultural, horticultural and forestry settings. We compile host and distribution reports for Phytophthora species across 178 countries and evaluate the power of traits, phylogeny and time since description (reflecting species‐level knowledge) to explain and predict their international transport, maximum latitude and host breadth using Bayesian phylogenetic generalised linear mixed models. In the best‐performing models, traits, phylogeny and time since description together explained up to 90%, 97% and 87% of variance in number of countries reached, latitudinal limits and host range, respectively. Traits and phylogeny together explained up to 26%, 41% and 34% of variance in the number of countries reached, maximum latitude and host plant families affected, respectively, but time since description had the strongest effect. Root‐attacking species were reported in more countries, and on more host plant families than foliar‐attacking species. Host generalist pathogens had thicker‐walled resting structures (stress‐tolerant oospores) and faster growth rates at their optima. Cold‐tolerant species are reported in more countries and at higher latitudes, though more accurate interspecific empirical data are needed to confirm this finding. Policy implications. We evaluate the potential of an evolutionary trait‐based framework to support horizon‐scanning approaches for identifying pathogens with greater potential for global‐scale impacts. Potential future threats from Phytophthora include Phytophthora x heterohybrida, P. lactucae, P. glovera, P. x incrassata, P. amnicola and P. aquimorbida, which are recently described, possibly under‐reported species, with similar traits and/or phylogenetic proximity to other high‐impact species. Priority traits to measure for emerging species may be thermal minima, oospore wall index and growth rate at optimum temperature. Trait‐based horizon‐scanning approaches would benefit from the development of international and cross‐sectoral collaborations to deliver centralised databases incorporating pathogen distributions, traits and phylogeny

Evolutionary trait-based approaches for predicting future global impacts of plant pathogens in the genus Phytophthora

1. Plant pathogens are introduced to new geographical regions ever more frequently as global connectivity increases. Predicting the threat they pose to plant health can be difficult without in‐depth knowledge of behaviour, distribution and spread. Here, we evaluate the potential for using biological traits and phylogeny to predict global threats from emerging pathogens. 2. We use a species‐level trait database and phylogeny for 179 Phytophthora species: oomycete pathogens impacting natural, agricultural, horticultural and forestry settings. We compile host and distribution reports for Phytophthora species across 178 countries and evaluate the power of traits, phylogeny and time since description (reflecting species‐level knowledge) to explain and predict their international transport, maximum latitude and host breadth using Bayesian phylogenetic generalised linear mixed models. 3. In the best‐performing models, traits, phylogeny and time since description together explained up to 90%, 97% and 87% of variance in number of countries reached, latitudinal limits and host range, respectively. Traits and phylogeny together explained up to 26%, 41% and 34% of variance in the number of countries reached, maximum latitude and host plant families affected, respectively, but time since description had the strongest effect. 4. Root‐attacking species were reported in more countries, and on more host plant families than foliar‐attacking species. Host generalist pathogens had thicker‐walled resting structures (stress‐tolerant oospores) and faster growth rates at their optima. Cold‐tolerant species are reported in more countries and at higher latitudes, though more accurate interspecific empirical data are needed to confirm this finding. 5. Policy implications. We evaluate the potential of an evolutionary trait‐based framework to support horizon‐scanning approaches for identifying pathogens with greater potential for global‐scale impacts. Potential future threats from Phytophthora include Phytophthora x heterohybrida, P. lactucae, P. glovera, P. x incrassata, P. amnicola and P. aquimorbida, which are recently described, possibly under‐reported species, with similar traits and/or phylogenetic proximity to other high‐impact species. Priority traits to measure for emerging species may be thermal minima, oospore wall index and growth rate at optimum temperature. Trait‐based horizon‐scanning approaches would benefit from the development of international and cross‐sectoral collaborations to deliver centralised databases incorporating pathogen distributions, traits and phylogeny

The domestic garden: its contribution to urban green infrastructure

Domestic gardens provide a significant component of urban green infrastructure but their relative contribution to eco-system service provision remains largely un-quantified. ‘Green infrastructure’ itself is often ill-defined, posing problems for planners to ascertain what types of green infrastructure provide greatest benefit and under what circumstances. Within this context the relative merits of gardens are unclear; however, at a time of greater urbanization where private gardens are increasingly seen as a ‘luxury’, it is important to define their role precisely. Hence, the nature of this review is to interpret existing information pertaining to gardens /gardening per se, identify where they may have a unique role to play and to highlight where further research is warranted. The review suggests that there are significant differences in both form and management of domestic gardens which radically influence the benefits. Nevertheless, gardens can play a strong role in improving the environmental impact of the domestic curtilage, e.g. by insulating houses against temperature extremes they can reduce domestic energy use. Gardens also improve localized air cooling, help mitigate flooding and provide a haven for wildlife. Less favourable aspects include contributions of gardens and gardening to greenhouse gas emissions, misuse of fertilizers and pesticides, and introduction of alien plant species. Due to the close proximity to the home and hence accessibility for many, possibly the greatest benefit of the domestic garden is on human health and well-being, but further work is required to define this clearly within the wider context of green infrastructure

Species concepts in Calonectria (Cylindrocladium)

Species of Calonectria and their Cylindrocladium anamorphs are important plant pathogens worldwide. At present 52 Cylindrocladium spp. and 37 Calonectria spp. are recognised based on sexual compatibility, morphology and phylogenetic inference. The polyphasic approach of integrating Biological, Morphological and Phylogenetic Species Concepts has revolutionised the taxonomy of fungi. This review aims to present an overview of published research on the genera Calonectria and Cylindrocladium as they pertain to their taxonomic history. The nomenclature as well as future research necessary for this group of fungi are also briefly discussed

Phylogeny and systematics of the genus Calonectria

Species of Calonectria are important plant pathogens, several of which have a worldwide distribution. Contemporary taxonomic studies on these fungi have chiefly relied on DNA sequence comparisons of the β-tubulin gene region. Despite many new species being described, there has been no phylogenetic synthesis for the group since the last monographic study almost a decade ago. In the present study, the identity of a large collection of Calonectria isolates from various geographic regions was determined using morphological and DNA sequence comparisons. This resulted in the discovery of seven new species; Ca. densa, Ca. eucalypti, Ca. humicola, Ca. orientalis, Ca. pini, Ca. pseudoscoparia and Ca. sulawesiensis, bringing the total number of currently accepted Calonectria species to 68. A multigene phylogeny was subsequently constructed for all available Calonectria spp., employing seven gene regions, namely actin, β-tubulin, calmodulin, histone H3, the internal transcribed spacer regions 1 and 2 and the 5.8S gene of the ribosomal RNA, 28S large subunit RNA gene and translation elongation 1-alpha. Based on these data 13 phylogenetic groups could be distinguished within the genus Calonectria that correlated with morphological features. Dichotomous and synoptic keys to all Calonectria spp. currently recognised are also provided